‘Shut Up’ is the latest in grime instalments from 21 year old South London local Michael Omari, otherwise known as Stormzy. It has caused an enormous amount of controversy in its attempts at becoming our beloved UK’s Christmas number one and here’s why.
For those of you unfamiliar with the genre of Grime, it’s been described as a ‘development of UK Garage, Drum and Bass and Dancehall’ and has quite recently taken the UK by storm (no pun intended). ‘Shut Up’ is catchy, raw and undeniably difficult not to attempt to sing along to. A lot of it revolves around a certain amount of ‘calling out’ other artists based on things they’ve previously said about Stormzy. For example, “Mention my name in your tweets/ Oi rudeboy shut up” is aimed at brother of UK grime MC Wiley who once insisted that Stormzy’s fame was purely due to his association with Wiley. This brutal introduction sets the scene for the remainder of the song, with Stormzy firmly establishing his presence in the grime scene and proving that he’ll “straight murk” anyone willing to “get loud”. From its instrumental hook to its relatively simple premise it’s a track that even the most convinced of grime-haters will enjoy.
Whether it’s drunkenly rapped to on a night out or patiently listened to pre-Anthony-Joshua-fight, ‘Shut Up’ manages to find its way into our hearts.
‘Shut Up’ is out now via Stormzy.
